Portal — nova

A portal is a Judger technology that can transport people, crates, almost anything across gigantic spaces almost instantly. Larger ones must run off Power Crystals. If these crystals are physically attacked they glow, slowly turn red then explode. If all the crystals are destroyed the giant portal will collapse. The ability to create portals was also given to Prometheus by the Judgers after he became Humanity's Guardian. During the War of Judgement the Judgers used portals to transport a large number of Xenos onto the ship, the Colonial Pride, New Ceres, and most likely other human controlled planets. Kal Wardin even uses one to travel to the Xeno Capital City.

Trivia

Portals are used throughout N.O.V.A. in multiplayer maps such as Jungle and Bunker
In N.O.V.A. 2, if Kal takes too long to kill the Overseer's avatar, portals appear and a representation of Prometheus in Kal's mind explains that Kal associates portals with the idea of escaping. He then has to navigate a maze of portals, each with a frozen scene in time, to escape (though it's all in his mind, which is being manipulated by the Overseer).